Bohemian violinists in the 17th and 18th century
From the seventeenth century onwards, the art of violin playing in Europe developed through various national violin schools. Motivated by better employment opportunities, many violin virtuosos left their homelands to disseminate the achievements of their respective national violin schools across Europe. This caused the sharp divisions between individual violin schools to gradually become blurred, and individual teaching styles started to blend. The phenomenon of extensive migrations of Bohemian musicians across Europe was already taking place at the end of the seventeenth century. Second in number only to Italians, Bohemian musicians formed the largest group of foreign musicians at the courts of Germany and other European countries in the seventeenth century. Between 1740 and 1810, almost half of the professional musicians originating from Bohemia were active abroad; for that reason, Bohemia was called the “Conservatory of Europe.” During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Bohemian violinists were active mostly in German, Austrian, and Italian lands. Smaller groups went elsewhere in Europe. The reasons for these extensive migrations must be sought in personal and religious motives, as well as the performers’ desire to perfect their musical skills and improve their financial positions. One aggravating factor was the great difficulty of finding employment at home, especially after the relocation of the imperial court and nobility to Vienna.
From the seventeenth century until the mid-nineteenth century, most Bohemian violinists were also active as composers. Some of them greatly influenced the development of violin technique in Europe at the time. One such violinist was Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber (1644–1704), who is today considered one of the most important violin composers of all time. One of Biber’s significant contributions was the use of scordatura, which was introduced in two collections: Mysterien Sonaten (1676) and Harmonia artificioso-ariosa (1696). One of his numerous violin compositions is also one of the first known compositions for unaccompanied violin (Passacaglia).
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Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber
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But of all violin players of the last century, Biber seems to have been the best, and his solos are the most difficult and the most fanciful of any Music I have seen of the same period." ~ Charles Burney
Franz Benda (1709–1786) gained his reputation as a principal performer in Prince Friedrich’s chapel and in 1771 he was appointed concertmaster in Berlin following the death of Giuseppe Tartini’s pupil Johann Gottlieb Graun (1703–1771). Benda's violin pieces were widely copied in manuscript form and used as studies by violinists already in his lifetime, yet only a very small number of them were published in his day.
I had heard the leading violinists from Mainz, Dresden, and Mannheim, but none of them was equal to Benda." |
Franz Benda
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In addition to Biber and Benda, there were many other famous Bohemian violinists that significantly contributed to European musical life during the eighteenth century, including Georg Anton Benda (Jiří Antonín Benda; 1722–1795), Wenzel Pichl (Václav Pichl; 1741–1805), Johann Baptist Wanhal (Jan Křitel Vaňhal; 1739–1813), Paul Wranitzky (Pavel Vranický; 1756–1808), Anton Wranitzky (Antonín Vranický; 1761–1820), Antonín Kammel (1730–1784), and Johann Wenzel Stamitz (Jan Václav Stamic; 1717–1757)
Bohemian violinists in the 17th and 18th century
Until the end of the eighteenth century, violinists originating from Bohemia were mostly active at various court music chapels in Mannheim, Berlin, Dresden, and elsewhere. In addition to the German lands, many violinists made a name for themselves in other European cities, such as Venice, Milan, Padua, London, Vienna, Budapest, Dublin, St. Petersburg, Warsaw, and Paris. Many of them went down in music history as famous virtuosos and composers, important teachers, and even as founders of national violin schools. But in many cases Bohemian musicians not only made their way into significant positions. They were also active as music teachers or music promoters in smaller European villages and towns and markedly influenced musical life there as well.
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Emigration of Bohemian violinists before the 1800’s
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Did you know?... that chamber music compositions by Bohemian violinists had already reached Slovenian territory in the late 18th century? The main chamber music promotor there was its warden, Mauritius Poehm (1745–1803), who came to Novo Mesto from Bohemia. He was an organist and an excellent musician, and the copyist and owner of the scores as well. Alongside the old music prints in their music archive are also transcriptions of works by famous Bohemian composers: Sei duetti a Due Violini, Op. 28 (Ms. Mus. 291) by Johann Baptist Vanhal and Six Sonates. Quatre a deux violons. Deux a violon et alto violo (Ms. Mus. 346) by Antonín Kammel. Similar situations exist in many other places throughout Europe. This shows that Bohemian musicians and their compositions reached places that were far from the most important European musical centers already in the eighteenth century. |
Antonín Kammel,
Six Sonates. Quatre a deux violons. Deux a violon et alto viola, |
Bohemian violinists in the 19th century
With the establishment of the Prague Conservatory in 1811, a major wave of emigration of Prague violinists throughout Europe emerged. But they were not the only violinists from Bohemia that significantly influenced musical life in Europe. There were many others from the Czech lands that studied violin elsewhere in Europe and later became very successful violin virtuosos and composers. These included Joseph Strauss (1793–1866), Anton Schindler (1795–1864), Leopold Jansa (1795–1875), Joseph Benesch (1795–1873), Joseph Labitzky (1802–1881), Moritz Schön (1808–1885), Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst (1812–1865), Wilma Neruda (1838–1911), Bertha Brousil (1842–1919), Josef Hiebsch (1854–1897), Eugen Grünberg (1854–?), and many others. Of all these, Ernst is probably the only one whose reputation has endured until today. The Musical World described him at the time as the most accomplished living violinist. His admiration for Niccolò Paganini is reflected in most of his violin compositions, which represented the pinnacle of violin technique and a challenge even for the best contemporary violinists.
The establishment of the Prague Conservatory
At the turn of the nineteenth century, due to the extensive emigration of the best local musicians, the closure of many monasteries, and the weakening of the economic and social position of the nobility in the Czech lands, there was a lack of high-quality orchestral performers. These musicians were especially needed in the theater orchestras. In 1810, twenty-two noblemen and patrons of music founded the Union for Music Promotion in Bohemia (Jednota pro zvelebení hudby v Čechách). The aim of the association was to found a music school that would employ accomplished local as well as foreign artists, whose duty it would be to educate musicians for the orchestras. These efforts bore fruit at the beginning of 1811, when nine music teachers were employed at the new school, which was called the Conservatory.
The first violin teacher at the Conservatory was Wilhelm Friedrich Pixis (1785–1842) from Mannheim, who is now considered the founder of the Prague violin school. He studied violin with Heinrich Ritter, Fränzl-Schüller Luci, and the German violinist and composer Ignaz Fränzl (1736–1811), representative of the “Mannheim School.” In 1798, during a two-month stay in Hamburg, Pixis met the famous violinist and composer Giovanni Battista Viotti (1755–1824), who gave him private violin lessons. In 1807 Pixis gave acclaimed performances with his brother in Karlovy Vary and Prague. Between 1811 and 1842 he was a violin professor at the Prague Conservatory and tutored many significant violinists, including Joseph Slawik, Raimund Dreyschock, Johann Kalliwoda, and others.
In 1843, PIxis was succeeded by his pupil Moritz Mildner (1812–1865), who remained active at the Conservatory until his death in 1865. After completing his studies (1822–1828), he was active as a soloist and a performer in chamber ensembles. As a violin professor, he continued with Pixis’ tradition and counted among his numerous pupils Ferdinand Laub, Hans Sitt, Jan Hřímalý, Emanuel Wirth, Josef Řebíček, and Václav Kopta. During the nineteenth century, most violin alumni at the Prague Conservatory were taught by Mildner’s pupil Antonín Bennewitz (1833–1926). After completing his studies (1846–1952) at the Prague Conservatory, Bennewitz was concertmaster of the Mozarteum Orchestra and the Court Opera Orchestra in Stuttgart. From 1866 he was a professor at the Prague Conservatory and in 1882 he became its director. His numerous alumni (more than 140) included Otakar Ševčík, Franz Ondříček, Jan Mařák, Karel Halíř, Jan Buchtele, and Ferdinand Lachner. |
Wilhelm Friedrich Pixis
Moritz Mildner
Anton Bennewitz
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Violin study at the Prague Conservatory
Between 1811 and 1887 the Prague Conservatory accepted pupils between the ages of 10 and 14. The study program was free of charge and generally lasted for six years, divided into two stages. The violin classes were held in groups: three times a week for three hours. The aim of the Prague Conservatory was not only to train orchestral players, but also to give them basic composition skills. It is thus no surprise that most of the nineteenth-century Prague violinists were also composers. Up to 1887 the Prague Conservatory enrolled more than five hundred violinists, mostly from the Czech lands. Not all students came from within the monarchy; some also come from cities such as Moscow, Odessa, Kiev, Poznan, Riga, Timisoara, and even New York and Chicago. During this period, just over half of the enrolled violinists completed their studies.
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The year of 1888 heralded a new era for the Prague Conservatory with the arrival of Otakar Ševčík. Before his era there was only one violin teacher at any given time teaching at the Prague Conservatory. From 1892 and onwards, the instrument was taught by more teachers. Between 1888 and 1919, the Prague Conservatory enrolled 651 violinists, again mostly coming from the Czech Lands. This time, however about twenty percent of pupils came from cities outside the Czech Lands, such as: Bern, Istanbul, London, Berlin, Kiev, Sofia, Bucharest, Rotterdam, Paris, Warsaw, Edinburgh, St. Petersburg. This large influx of students from abroad can be attributed to the pedagogical reputation of Otakar Ševčík. Sending out many students to become successful around the world, he contributed to the prestige and glory of the Prague Conservatory and the Prague violin school at the turn of the 20th century.
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The Prague violin school was based on the Franco-Belgian violin school, and one of the basic teaching books was the Méthode de Violon by Pierre Baillot (1771–1842), Pierre Rode (1766–1831), and Rodolphe Kreutzer (1766–1831). This was also the official violin teaching method at the Paris Conservatory, which set the standard for many music conservatories established later throughout Europe.
Did you know?
... that the first violinists from the Slovene Lands appeared at the Prague Conservatory in the beginning of the 20th century? Before 1919, only three violinists from the Slovene Lands studied at the Prague Conservatory – none of them, however, finished their studies.
The first female violinists entered the Prague Conservatory only at the end of the 19th century? One of them was an English violinist Marie Hall, who became one of the most successful violinists of the early 20th century and was declared by European critics and her audience as “another Kubelik” or “Kubelik in skirts.” During the war, in 1916, she recorded an abridged version of the Elgar Violin Concerto with the composer conducting. |
Marie Pauline Hall
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New York Times, Nov 9th, 1905
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Prague violinists in the first half of the 19th century in Europe
Attracted by prospects abroad, most of the talented and promising Prague violinists in the first half of the nineteenth century emigrated throughout Europe, particularly within the Habsburg monarchy. They became members of the Estates Theater orchestras in Linz, Graz, and Budapest and the Theater on the Vienna River, Leopoldstadt, and Josefstadt theaters in Vienna. Outside the monarchy they also found positions at the Königsstadt Theater in Berlin. They were also appointed to the very prestigious and respected position of music director, which was definitely a mark of success for professional musicians at the time. Many of them joined the ranks of the most prominent violinists of the time in the prestigious Vienna Imperial Opera and Vienna Imperial Music Chapel. Their monikers, such as “the Bohemian Paganini,” “the Budapest Mayseder,” and “the other Lipiński” undoubtedly testify that many of them were virtuosos comparable with the most prominent violinists of the era. The acquaintances, friendships, and even musical cooperation with the foremost composers and musicians of the era indicate that they were respected as musicians and were prominently integrated into the musical milieus of Central Europe.
In the first half of the nineteenth century they contributed to European musical life mostly as soloists and music directors. One of the most important violinists of the period was undoubtedly Johann Kalliwoda, a violinist and composer, who belongs to the first generation of Prague violinists and is today considered one of the prime representatives of the Prague violin school under Friedrich Wilhelm Pixis. He conducted the court orchestra of Prince Charles Egon II von Fürstenberg, performing as soloist and managing musical activities at the local cathedral. Johann Kalliwoda’s reputation as a violinist and composer, for example, was such that all his symphonies were performed in Leipzig as they appeared. Aside from symphonies, he also composed six nocturnes for viola and piano, string quartets, violin concertos, and some other compositions, totaling 450 works.
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Johann Kalliwoda
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Joseph Slawik
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Joseph Slawik (the “Bohemian Paganini”) is today considered one of the very important pillars of Czech violin history. Slawik’s violin technique was admired by both Chopin and Schubert. The latter composed his Rondo in B minor d. 895 and the Fantasia in C d. 934, which Slawik performed for the first time, for him.
“I am just back from Slawik’s. A famous violinist whom I befriended. Since Paganini I have heard nothing like him; he can take 96 notes staccato on one bow, and so on; incredible." |
Franz Gläser is today known primarily as Beethoven’s assistant at the première performance of the overture The Consecration of the House, as well as the conductor of all the subsequent performances.
“On the day of the première of this work, which the highly-esteemed Master [Beethoven] was himself conducting, I assisted him at his request; as he, sadly being robbed of his hearing, was in need of some assistance.... I was deeply touched when he suddenly asked me in painfully moving tones during the production of the opera to conduct a very difficult recitative in his stead. At the next fixed tempo, I let him continue and as he called out, with tears in his eyes, “I cannot hear the words,” I took up this hint and stopped the orchestra at tricky moments, in the ritardandos and accelerandos, and so forth. As was attested later, I had even, unbeknown to myself, held the great Master’s hand, until the ship had once again sailed into calmer waters. One might even jokingly assume that I had at this moment conducted the great Master himself.” |
Franz Gläser
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Raimund Dreyschock
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Raimund Dreyschock was a violin professor at the Leipzig Conservatory and the second concertmaster of the Gewandhaus Orchestra until 1869. Between 1851 and 1863 he and the famous violinist Ferdinand David held the shared position of first violin of the Gewandhaus Quartet.
Did you know?... that Prague violinist Raimund Dreyschock taught Oskar Rieding at the Conservatory of Music in Leipzig. Rieding (1846–1916) later settled in Celje (today's Slovenia), where he died in 1916. |
Contribution of Prague violinists in the second half of the nineteeth century
In the second half of the nineteenth century the Prague violinists’ roles and their migration routes changed. They still mostly emigrated to the cities within the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy and German Empire, but others also settled in the regions of Galicia and Bukovina, which were part of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy until 1918, and in the neighboring Russian Empire, where they found work mostly in St. Petersburg and Moscow. They were active as concertmasters, violin pedagogues, virtuosos, chamber music promotors and performers, and organizers of musical and cultural life in numerous European cities. They markedly influenced violin music and practice as well as music development in the second half of the nineteenth century.
Prague violinists as concertmasters in Europe from the second half of the 19th century
As a group, they became one of the most important and respected schools of violin pedagogues in Europe. Until 1880s they were, as violin teachers, active at the music conservatories in Moscow, Samara, Naples, Leipzig, Cologne, Dresden, the Stern Conservatory and College in Berlin, and at music schools such as the Music Associations in Linz and Graz, the Philharmonic Society in Ljubljana, the Russian Music Society in Kiev and Kharkiv, the Helsinki Music Institute (later Sibelius Music Academy), the Augsburg Music School and others.
Prague violinists as violin professors at the most important European Music Conservatories or Music Schools from the 2nd half of the 19th century
Just as Henryk Wieniawski was a great violin influence in St. Petersburg, Ferdinand Laub and Jan Hřímalý were a great influence in Moscow. They introduced the Prague violin school and trained several outstanding violinists, including Stanisław Barcewicz and Iosif Kotek.
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Mr. Laub’s interpretation was above all praise – Moscow has every right to be proud of having within its walls this Titan amongst violinists." |
Laub regularly appeared as the primarius of the Russian Musical Society’s String Quartet (the “Moscow Quartet”). Tchaikovsky was so impressed by his violin playing of the chamber repertoire that he was inspired to compose the String Quartet No. 1 (1871) and String Quartet No. 2 (1874), both of which were premièred by the Moscow Quartet with Laub as first violinist and another Prague violinist, Jan Hřímalý, as the second violinist.
After Laub’s death, Tchaikovsky was greatly saddened and dedicated his third string quartet, Op. 30, which was premièred by Hřímalý, to his memory. |
Ferdinand Laub
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Jan Hřímalý
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Hřímalý was in Moscow active as a leader in symphony concerts and leader of the string quartet that gave the first performances of Tchaikovsky’s Third String Quartet and Piano Trio. For the latter Tchaikovsky entrusted the bowing of the string parts to him. Hřímalý made a very early recording on wax cylinders of the Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor by Anton Arensky, with the composer at the piano and Anatoliy Brandukov as cellist. This recording was made shortly after its composition and it is the first recording made of it, although it is incomplete. Hřímalý entertained the social and cultural elite of Russia, including Tchaikovsky, Chaliapin, Rachmaninoff, and many others, at his home, which was in the Moscow Conservatory building. He published several technical exercises and studies, among them Doppelgriff-Übungen and Tonleiter Studien..
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in Kiev one of the most important music figures was Otakar Ševčík. In his seventeen years of teaching there, he developed his pedagogical abilities and wrote two of his most important method books: School of Violin Technics Op. 1 and School of Bowing Technics, Op. 2. In the first half of the twentieth century his method books were one of the most sold and used works of their kind in both Europe and the United States.
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Otakar Ševčík
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He was invited to hold classes throughout Europe and the United States. He taught at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, in Kiev, at the Prague Conservatory, at the Academy of Music in Vienna, and privately. Ševčík produced a generation of virtuosos who were living proof of the brilliance of his teaching, from the Czech Jan Kubelík to the Russians Michael Zacharevitch (1879–1959) and Efrem Zimbalist, the Austrian Erica Morini, the Englishwoman Mary Hall, and many others. He taught about 1200 students.
Did you know?... that the famous violin pedagogue Carl Flesch (1873–1944) was a great admirer of the methodical works of Otakar Ševčík? In their correspondence, Flesch signed himself as 'Your unofficial pupil'. One of the most successful of Flesch's Pupils, Henryk Szeryng (1918–1988), had to study all Ševčík's methodical works. |
A young person has to learn to play scales correctly before he or she falls in love." |
Ševčík found for each example a particular remedy and was able to conceal the weakness of his pupils and highlight their strengths. His greatest merit was that he taught his pupils how they should practice [...]"
~ Václav Talich
The Prague violin school also reached Leipzig, where two notable Prague violinists trained many violinists and influenced the development of violin playing there. Between 1850 and 1869 already mentioned Raimund Dreyschock was active there. Hans Sitt, who was a leading musical figure in Leipzig for almost forty years, can be regarded as one of the foremost violin professors at the time in Europe. His students would move on to become members of numerous European and American orchestras. In addition to other compositions, he wrote several important studies for violin and viola that are still in use. He was the conductor of the Leipzig Bach Society (Bach-Verein Leipzig) and a violist in the well-known Brodsky Quartet.
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Hans Sitt
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The Prague violin school also had a strong influence in Berlin, which was one of the most important musical centres at the time. Two notable Prague violinists, also members of famous Joachim String Quartet, formed an important teaching team with its founder Joseph Joachim at the Berlin College of Music (Hochschule für Musik). As Joachim’s assistant and one of the finest violin teachers of his generation, Emanuel Wirth influenced several generations of violinists that studied in Berlin.
Joachim String Quartet with two Prague violinists: Emanuel Wirth and Karel Halíř
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Emanuel Wirth
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Karel Halíř
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Karl Haliř achieved great popularity in Berlin as concertmaster of the Court Opera Orchestra and a violin teacher at the College (Hochschule für Musik). He founded his own String Quartet, Piano Trio and became the second violinist of the Joachim Quartet. He trained many eminent violinists, among them also many Americans. He gave many successful solo performances in Europe and in the United States.
His performance was one of the most interesting and admirable pieces of violin playing that have been heard in New York.” |
Contribution of Prague violinists from the end of the 19th century until World War I
From the end of the nineteenth century until World War I, Prague violinists migrated primarily to Slavic countries instead of German Empire and the United States. The reasons for this change can be found in the awakening of national consciousness in individual Slavic countries, in a strengthening of the Slavic Alliance, and in the need for quality musicians in musically developing regions. Before the war, the Prague Conservatory’s alumni formed the majority of orchestra members in Odessa, Zagreb, and Ljubljana. To the migration stream to Europe was added a second stream to the United States that began in the 1890s and lasted up to the outbreak of World War I.
Until World War I, they were active as concertmasters, violin pedagogues, virtuosos, chamber music promotors and performers, composers, and conductors all over Europe and the United States. They held significant positions at the most important music schools, conservatories, and colleges not only in Europe, but also in the United States. They trained thousands of successful violinists that became soloists, concertmasters, and their successors at Conservatories and other institutions in Europe and the United States.
Did you know?
… that Viktor Nováček (1872–1914) premiered Sibelius’s Violin Concerto in d-minor in Helsinki?
When the Music Conservatory of Odessa was founded in 1913, the first pedagogues were Prague violinists Josef Permann and Franz Stupka. As such they are today considered as the founders of the Odessa violin school. There was also a similar situation in Zagreb and Ljubljana. In 1903 Václav Huml moved to Zagreb and became a violin teacher at the Croatian Music Institute. He was a teacher of many prominent violinists throughout Yugoslavia and is today considered the founder of the Zagreb violin school.
Did you know? … that Josef Karbulka (1866–1920) was the teacher of the famous violin pedagogue Pyotr Stolyarsky (teacher of D. Oistrakh, N. Milstein, B. Goldstein, E. Gilels etc.) in Odessa? |
Václav Huml
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With the outbreak of World War I, migration all but came to a standstill. The careers of many Prague violinists, just like other musicians, were temporarily interrupted. Many young Prague violinists had to go to war and they continued with their work abroad only after the war. Some of them went during the summer before the outbreak of the war to their homeland and were blocked to return to their workplaces, especially to the Russian Empire and to the United States. Travel from Europe to the United States was severely interrupted with the closing of the sea lanes during the war. Nevertheless, several Prague violinists continued with their work in the United States also after the outbreak of the war. Among them were, on one hand, those that were born in the United States and, on the other, those that migrated there long before the war and were already completely assimilated. The spread of the Prague violinists across Europe and to the United States gradually slowed between the two world wars. For over one hundred years, they had trained new generations of violinists throughout Europe, contributing to the spread of this strand of violin pedagogy, which was then further developed by local descendants and successors.
Viktor Neumann (1872-1942) and Oskar Knotek (1882-1942), violin alumni of the Prague Conservatory, died in the Nazi Concentration Camp in Treblinka in 1942.
Prague violinists in the United States
Teachers, orchestra members and concertmasters
Fifty million Europeans migrated to the United States from 1850 to 1920. These included many musicians, who played an important role in the development of music societies, orchestras, and music education in the United States. Also many of Prague violinists built careers in the United States. About half of these had been born in the United States, mostly to Czech emigrants in Chicago, and they went back to Prague for training. At the turn of the century, Chicago was the third largest “Czech city” in the world after Prague and Vienna. The first violin student that had been born in the United States came to study at the Prague Conservatory already in 1861. Most of the “Czech-American students” studied at the Prague Conservatory at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth century; fewer than half of them completed their studies. The majority were students of Antonín Bennewitz and Otakár Ševčík. The ones that settled in Chicago mostly became violin teachers at the Chicago Conservatory of Music, orchestra members, and concertmasters of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and the Theodor Thomas Orchestra.
Fifty million Europeans migrated to the United States from 1850 to 1920. These included many musicians, who played an important role in the development of music societies, orchestras, and music education in the United States. Also many of Prague violinists built careers in the United States. About half of these had been born in the United States, mostly to Czech emigrants in Chicago, and they went back to Prague for training. At the turn of the century, Chicago was the third largest “Czech city” in the world after Prague and Vienna. The first violin student that had been born in the United States came to study at the Prague Conservatory already in 1861. Most of the “Czech-American students” studied at the Prague Conservatory at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth century; fewer than half of them completed their studies. The majority were students of Antonín Bennewitz and Otakár Ševčík. The ones that settled in Chicago mostly became violin teachers at the Chicago Conservatory of Music, orchestra members, and concertmasters of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and the Theodor Thomas Orchestra.
Prague violinists were very successful also in Boston and New York, where they were concertmasters of the New York Opera Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra. Several of them were also appointed violin and viola professors at the New York Conservatory of Music and Boston University.
From 1909, until the end of World War I, Anton Witek (Anton Vítek; 1872–1933) was the concertmaster of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra. Before moving to Boston, he was concertmaster of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra from 1894. In the 1910s, he formed a Piano Trio in Boston and gave several concerts.
The first Prague violinist, that moved to the U.S. already in 1866 was Václav Kopta (1845–1916). He became concertmaster and first soloist of the New York Opera Orchestra (probably the Academy of Music Opera House in New York). He also performed in New York also as a soloist and gave several concerts in some other cities in the United States.
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Anton Witek, Boston Symphony Orchestra (leaders of String Section, 1913|1914)
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An important musical figure in the United States was Leopold Kramer (1870–?). In 1897, he moved to Chicago to join Theodor Thomas's Chicago Symphony Orchestra, became concertmaster of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and founded the Chicago String Quartet. In 1913, he became concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and gave as a soloist with the Orchestra a few concerts. He went to Europe for the summer holidays in 1914, and was, because of the outbreak of the war and subsequent military duty, prohibited from returning to New York. As such, because of the war, he had to give up the concertmaster position of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. A few years after the war, he returned to New York, where, between 1922 and 1923, he was concertmaster of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. He was also a violin teacher at the Institute for Musical Arts (later renamed Julliard) between 1920 and 1924.
An important figure of New York’s musical life during the first half of the twentieth century was Joseph J. Kovarik (Josef Jan Kovářík; 1870–1951). He was appointed professor of violin at the New York Conservatory of Music, a violinist and later head of the viola section of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra (Orchestra of the Philharmonic Society). As a member of the Dannreuther Quartet, he gave the American première of Dvořák’s String Quartet in A-flat major. Kovarik was proclaimed one of the best violists in the U.S. by the Russian conductor Vasily Safonov (1852–1918). As a viola soloist, he gave several concerts with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra at Carnegie Hall between 1905 and 1926 and performed works such as Berlioz’s Harold in Italy and Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante.
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Joseph J. Kovarik
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Besides Chicago, Boston, and New York, Prague violinists residing in the U.S. were active also in the Minneapolis, Cleveland, Oklahoma, Nashville and many other cities. They gave several first U.S. performances of known Czech composers, such as: A. Dvořák and B. Smetana.
Prague violinists as virtuosos in the United States
Prague violinists established themselves in the United States as famous virtuosos, mostly in New York. The first Prague violinist that appeared on the New York concert stage was in 1866 Václav Kopta. Due to rheumatism, he gave up his solo career in 1874. After a long break from the concert stage, he reappeared in 1901 and performed until 1909, mostly in San Francisco and Los Angeles. |
Kopta's musical feeling, clearness of phrasing and neatness of execution astonished and delighted the audience." |
Franz Ondříček
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The most famous of the four Ondříček violin brothers, Franz Ondříček, performed seventy concerts in the United States. Ondříček premièred Dvořák’s Violin Concerto in Prague in 1883 and twelve years later, in 1895, played it with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, but “[t]he audience liked best the composition of Ernst’s, with which he turned the Philharmonic into a fiddle circus.” During World War I, some of Ondříček’s violin pieces were performed in New York as well. Also, three of his brothers, violinists Karl, Emanuel, and Stanislav Ondříček, gave concerts in the United States and were active there as well.
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A highly regarded and immensely famous violinist in the United States at the beginning of the twentieth century was Jan Kubelik (1880–1940). Described also as a “reincarnation of Nicolo Paganini,” Kubelik made his American debut in New York in 1901 and began recording for the Gramophone Company. He was amongst the earliest world-class violinists to make solo recordings, initially for the Gramophone and Typewriter Company in 1902 and later for other record companies. During his concert tours, he gave hundreds of concerts only in the United States. One of the most successful was held in 1907 in the Hippodrome Theater in New York, where he played before an audience of “astonishing size,” about five thousand people. During the war in 1915, he removed himself from the concert circuit and turned his attention to composition, but still made several recordings. After the war, he tried to make a comeback as soloist, but due to the arrival of new rising stars such as Jascha Heifetz (1901–1987) and Mischa Elman (1891–1967) on the concert scene, Kubelik never managed to achieve his previous status again.
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Jan Kubelik
few have the power of so ravishing the senses with the sheer beauty of his tone, the charm of his cantilena, the elegance and ease with which he masters all the technical difficulties of what he is playing so that they no longer suggest themselves as difficulties.” |
Jaroslav Kocian
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Soon after Kubelik’s debut in the United States, Jaroslav Kocian (1883–1950), then only eighteen years old, signed a contract to perform eighty concerts in the U.S. and Canada. To his disadvantage, he was often compared with Kubelik in many aspects, as can be read in the announcement of his debut that “if appearance counts for anything, he will prove a worthy rival of Kubelik in the eyes of matinée girls and other genius worshippers”. Kocian returned to the United States in 1910 as “a riper artist and with evidently more dignified purposes, thinking more of his art and less of display through its means.”
Kocian played Lalo's 'Symphonic Espagnole' brilliantly, as befits its style, and also with real musical feeling [...] A rich and penetrating powerful tone, accuracy of intonation, a facile and elastic style, to which vigorous bowing contributed much of its character and masculinity. His playing won much approbation from the audience." |
Bohemian violinists in the Croatian lands
Immigration from the Czech lands to Croatian cities and towns started to take place from the mid-eighteenth century and increased during the nineteenth century. The immigrants included officers, craftsmen, teachers, soldiers, and musicians. The first names of Bohemian musicians started to appear in the Croatian lands towards the end of the eighteenth century. An intriguing one among them is undoubtedly the well-known composer, violinist, and music teacher Johann Baptist Wanhal, who spent several periods living in Croatia during the 1770s. Wanhal was active as a musician at the Ladislav Erdödy estates in Novi Marof and Varaždin, where two to six of his (presumed) autographs are kept. Some of his other compositions are preserved in eleven music collections spread across seven cities in Croatia. By the 1820s, Bohemian musicians were immigrating exclusively into the Central European part of Croatia, the so-called Triune Kingdom. Whereas military musicians came as members of their regiments, teachers responded to competitions published in newspapers across the Austrian Empire and later Austria-Hungary. The late eighteenth- and nineteenth-century schooling system in Croatia enabled private music training and music education in secular public and church schools. The first public theaters were set up at the time in the adapted municipal or military buildings or in private places. Since there were often no local musical forces, the immigrant musicians fulfilled these tasks. Among them were military musicians and civilians, who mostly dealt with music pedagogy and performance practice.
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Johann Baptist Wanhal
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Franz Lehár, Jr.
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Bohemian and Prague violinists as Military Music directors in the Croatian Lands
Military music directors contributed to musical life in places like Rijeka, Pula, Bjelovar, and Osijek. The most known among them was Johann Zajitz, Sr. (Johann Nepomuk pl. Zagicz; 1800–1854), who became a teacher of string instruments and singing at the music school in Rijeka. Born in Domašín in Bohemia, Zajitz was an oboe virtuoso and violinist, pianist, and composer. From 1821, he was the military music director of the 45th Infantry Regiment of Baron Mayer. In 1830, he came from Bratislava to Rijeka with his regiment. He settled there, having left military service, and became one of the most important musical figures of Rijeka: he contributed as a music teacher, composer, cathedral organist, and conductor of the theater orchestra. Several of Military music directors served under the Austro-Hungarian Imperial and Royal War Navy (kaiserlische und königliche Kriegsmarine), which had important ports in Rijeka and Pula. From the 1850s, the majority of the music directors in Pula were musicians originating from the Czech lands, among them also several Prague violinists, namely Christoph Stark (1821–?), Karl Czerný (1838–?), Franz Lehár, Jr. (1870–1948), and Franz Jaksch (1851–). In 1896, the trumpeter and violinist Gustav Schmidt (1865–1931) succeeded Lehár and successfully led a military band in Pula until 1899. |
Also in Osijek, the military musicians from Bohemia formed an important group, among them the Prague violinist Johann Žižka (Jan Žižka; 1859–1913). Soon after his violin studies with Bennewitz at the Prague Conservatory between 1870 and 1876, he became a military music director of the 81st Infantry Regiment (1888–1894). From 1894, he was a music director of the 78th Infantry Regiment in Osijek, where he died in 1913.
Beside soldiers, officials, and craftsmen, who began to immigrate to Bjelovar at the end of the eighteenth century, another important group of Czechs in Bjelovar were musicians, who significantly contributed to its musical life. Among them Johann Mazánek (Johann Mazanek; 1829–1879), Josef Mazánek (Jozef Mazanek; 1818–1882). Ignác Hynek Bureš (1890–1970), Antonín Motal (Anton Motal; 1875–1934), and František Zita.
Prague violinists as teachers in Zagreb
The first Prague violinists of Czech origin moved to Zagreb in 1891, when the management of the Music Society School (Hrvatski glazbeni zavod) opened positions for two violin teachers, and employed two Prague violinists: Joseph Karbulka (Josef Karbulka, Iosif Iosifovič; 1866–1920) and Vítězslav Moser (Viktor Roman Moser; 1864–1939).
The first Prague violinists of Czech origin moved to Zagreb in 1891, when the management of the Music Society School (Hrvatski glazbeni zavod) opened positions for two violin teachers, and employed two Prague violinists: Joseph Karbulka (Josef Karbulka, Iosif Iosifovič; 1866–1920) and Vítězslav Moser (Viktor Roman Moser; 1864–1939).
Josef Karbulka was born on June 24th, 1866 in Prague. At the age of eight, he began with private classes for violin, piano, and singing. At the age of fourteen, he continued with violin studies with Bennewitz at the Prague Conservatory, where he remained until 1885. After finishing his studies, he was a military music director’s assistant in the 93rd Infantry Regiment and afterwards a concertmaster in Italy. In 1889, he moved to Berlin to continue his violin studies with Joseph Joachim at the Music College (Hochschule für Musik). In August 1891, he applied for the position of the first violin teacher at the Croatian Music Institute. He succeeded, and also became concertmaster and leader of the Music Institute Orchestra and performed on several Institute concerts as a soloist and a chamber musician along with other musicians, such as Viktor Roman Moser, Anka Barbot Krežma, Anton Stöckl, and Hinko Geiger. He also gave a few concerts in Vukovar and Križevci. After a minor conflict with the management of the Institute in October 1893, he resigned from his position. In 1894, he set up residence in Odessa, where he became violin teacher at the Odessa Imperial Musical Society School, which was set up in 1897 by the Russian Music Society. One of his pupils there was Pyotr Solomonovich Stolyarsky (1871–1944), who would later become the world-famous teacher of David Oistrakh (1908–1974), Nathan Milstein (1904–1992), and many others. After leaving Odessa, Karbulka became a violin professor at the Music Institute in Mikolaiv (from 1906 its director). During his holiday stay in Prague, he was caught by the outbreak of the First World War and was interned in Raabs (1914–1916) as a Russian citizen. After his return to Mikolaiv, he took over his previous function of the Music Institute, which was renamed the Music Conservatory after the revolution. He wrote several pieces for violin and piano and died in 1920 in Mikolaiv.
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Josef Karbulka (1913)
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Viktor Roman Moser, Škola za gusle
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Since Karbulka did not stay long enough in Zagreb to significantly contribute there, his colleague Viktor Roman Moser authored the first Croatian violin method book in four parts, called Škola za gusle (1896), which became part of the school’s curriculum. Moser was born on February 7th, 1864 in Sušice (CZ). He studied violin privately in Prague with Ferdinand Lachner (1856–1910), a violin teacher of the Prague Conservatory, and composition with Zdeněk Fibich (1850–1900). From 1885, Moser was a member of the National Theater Orchestra in Prague and in 1888, he moved to Ljubljana to become a violin teacher at the Music Society, where he remained until 1891. While he was still under contract with the Music Society, he applied for the position of the first violin teacher at the Music Institute in Zagreb in April 1891. Starting the new school year 1891, he became a violin teacher and in 1892 took over the Institute’s Orchestra from Karbulka. One of his students was Dora Quîquerez (1879–?), who was later active as a violin teacher.
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Besides Moser and Karbulka, several other Prague violinists were teachers at the Croatian Music Institute at the beginning of the 20th century, namely: František Jílek (1865–1911), Stanislav Ondříček (1885–1953), Václav Huml (Wenzel Huml; 1880–1953), Jindřich Feld (1883–1953), and Jan Přibyl (1893–?).
Václav Huml and his influence across Yugoslav territories
Until the second half of the twentieth century Václav Huml was the most influential violinist not only in Zagreb, but also across all Yugoslav territory. He was born on September 18th, 1880 in Beroun, where he received his first music education from his uncle, who was a skilled violinist. When Huml was thirteen years old, he entered the Prague Conservatory, where he studied violin with Otakar Ševčík between 1893–1899.
Until the second half of the twentieth century Václav Huml was the most influential violinist not only in Zagreb, but also across all Yugoslav territory. He was born on September 18th, 1880 in Beroun, where he received his first music education from his uncle, who was a skilled violinist. When Huml was thirteen years old, he entered the Prague Conservatory, where he studied violin with Otakar Ševčík between 1893–1899.
Birth Record of Václav Huml
During his studies, Huml was a second violinist of the Prague Conservatory String Quartet with the primarius Jan Kubelik, later Josef Kouba (1880–1951).
Huml finished his violin studies at the Conservatory in 1899, performing the Violin Concerto by Tchaikovsky. After this he served a three-year military service as a solo violinist of the 73rd Infantry Regiment in Prague. In 1902, he became a first concertmaster of the Philharmonic Orchestra in Lviv, and primarius of the String Quartet, whose members were mostly Czechs. Due to the busy schedule of the orchestra, which was performing more than one hundred twenty concerts per year, the twenty-three-year-old Huml looked for alternatives, and in 1903 he successfully applied for the position of violin teacher at the Croatian Music Institute in Zagreb.
During his career, he performed in numerous chamber concerts, and co-founded the Zagreb String Quartet, in which many of his pupils would later become members as well. He was publicly performing until 1926, after which he devoted himself exclusively to violin teaching. Even from the start he trained great violinists, such as Zlata Špehar (1895–1970) and Zlatko Baloković (1895–1965), who were two of his very first violin pupils. Besides the Music School of the Croatian Music Institute, he taught most of his students at the “master school” of the same Music Institute, which was renamed the Croatian Music Conservatory in 1916. Later he taught at the Academy of Music and privately as well. Huml was also a visiting professor in Ithaca (New York), and London, and a member of the jury of a few international violin competitions. Some of his pupils formed the first professional chamber orchestra in Zagreb (Zagrebački komorni orkestar), founded in 1937.
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Confirmation of absolutorium at the Prague Conservatory
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[...] particularly emphasized professor Huml with his fine virtuoso technique and true artistic understanding. The large audience rewarded him with tumultuous applause.”
He trained numerous brilliant violinists and, along with the network of his pupils, the Prague violin school tradition spread all over Yugoslavia. Many of his pupils made successful international careers in the United States, London, Prague, Paris, Buenos Aires, Budapest, Johannesburg, Vienna, Geneva, Montevideo, Sydney, Munich, Hamburg, and Saarbrucken. Among these were, for example, three concertmasters in Vienna, and teachers at eminent music institutions such as the Guildhall School of Music in London, the College of Music in Southampton, the École Normale de Musique in Paris, and many others. Huml’s pupils taught at the music academies in Zagreb, Belgrade, Ljubljana, and Sarajevo. Also, most of the concertmasters of the orchestras in the region were Huml’s pupils as well.
His most succesful pupil was Ljerko Spiller (1908–2008), who achieved great success, winning the fifth prize at the first Henryk Wieniawski Violin Competition in Warsaw in 1935, alongside violinists that would later be world famous, namely Ginette Neveu (1919–1949), Henri Temianka (1906–1992), David Oistrakh (1908–1974), Boris Goldstein (1922–1987), and Ida Haendel (1928). In his memories of Václav Huml, Spiller wrote that he studied with Jacques Thibaud (1880–1953), George Enescu (1881–1955), Gaston Poulet (1882–1974), and Diran Alexanian (1881–1954), and that they had significant influence on his artistic development, but “a master” like Huml he had never found again.
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I do not know your teacher [Václav Huml], but I can assure you that you can count violin professors from around the world that teach like your master on the fingers of one hand." |
Prague violinists as conductors, orchestra members and concertmasters in Zagreb
Besides teaching, the Prague violinists were also engaged in Zagreb as conductors, orchestra members, or concertmasters at the National Theater Orchestra. Already at the end of the nineteenth century Adolf Pick (1870–?) was the concertmaster of the orchestra. In addition to Pick, several other Prague violinists were orchestra members and concertmasters from the late nineteenth century, namely: Josef Čermák, Anton Lubasch (1879–?), František Parýzek (Franjo Parizek; 1898–?), Lubomír Peroutka (Ljubomir Peroutka; 1887–?), Bohumil Bouzek (Bohumil Bouček; 1894–?), Anton Větvička, and Franz Vojtěchovský. During the war most of the orchestra's violinists and violists were Czechs, though not all of them were alumni of the Prague Conservatory. Besides Huml and Přibyl, Bohumil Tuláček (1887–1957) was also the concertmaster of the orchestra during the 1910s. He studied violin privately with Jan Mařák. In 1912 he moved to Zagreb, where until 1934 he was concertmaster of the National Theater Orchestra. Among the most important important Prague violinists who were active in Zagreb as conductors were: Milan Zuna (1881–1960) and Milan Sachs (Emil Sachs; 1884–1968). Both of them were violin students of Jan Mařák. Zuna moved to Zagreb in 1909, where he was the conductor of the National Theater Orchestra until 1914. Sachs was the conductor from 1911 and conducted some important local premiers and remained in Zagreb until his death in 1968.
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Prague and Bohemian violinists in the Croatian Lands until 1919
The Bohemian Violin Heritage of the Slovene Lands
One of the earliest mentions of the Bohemian musicians in the Slovene lands is from 1720, with the record of Bohemus Joseph Wenzel Götzel (Josef Vencelj Götzel; ?–1723), musician (ludi, chorique magister ecclesiae cathedralis) at the Ljubljana cathedral. He originated from Litoměřice, studied in Prague, and died in Ljubljana in 1723. There were more Bohemian musicians in the Slovene lands from the 1760s onwards. They were active as violinists, organists, and composers in various churches and monasteries. One of these was Mauritius Poehm (Josephus Antonius Poehm; 1745–1803), a Franciscan friar and musician who came to the Slovene lands from Bohemia and entered into the order in Kamnik in 1763. He spent most of his life in monasteries in Slovenia; in Kamnik, Ljubljana, and mainly Novo Mesto. He settled there in 1774, serving as organist, teacher at the lyceum, and guardian of the community. In addition, he was also the owner of a music collection, which has been preserved in Novo Mesto and contains transcriptions of compositions written by Bohemian composers and violinists such as Johann Baptist Wanhal (Jan Křitel Vaňhal; 1839–1813) and Antonín Kammel (1730–1784/1785).
Qualified local music teachers were rare, and for that reason most of these schools’ teachers came to the Slovene lands from abroad. The earliest information about Bohemian violin teachers in Slovenia appears at the beginning of the nineteenth century. These included Joseph Miksch (Josip Mikš; 1778–1866), Franz Sokol (Franciscus, Franc Sokoll; 1779–1822), Jan Slavík (Ignatius, Janez Slavik; 1787–1842), Gašpar Mašek (Caspar, Kaspar Maschek; 1794–1873), and Anton Nedved (Antonín Nedvěd; 1829–1896).
In the 1820s there was another violinist originating from the Czech lands that was active in Ljubljana. A violin virtuoso and composer, Joseph Benesch was of a standard that rose above the violin dilettantism of the time. Between 1823 and 1828, he was the orchestra director of the same orchestra, and for a short period also of the Estates Theater Orchestra. Between 1826 and 1828, he was a violin teacher at the Philharmonic Society Music School in Ljubljana. He wrote numerous virtuoso violin compositions, a few of them while residing in Ljubljana.
Did you know? … that it was Joseph Benesch who, together with violinist Eduard Jaell (1793–1849), handed over the honorary diploma of the Philharmonic Society of Ljubljana (Philharmonische Gesellschaft) to Niccolò Paganini (1782–1840) in Trieste in 1824? |
Josef Benesch
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Violinist alumni of the Prague Conservatory appeared in Slovene territory only in the second half of the nineteenth century. The arrival of the Prague violinist Hans Gerstner (1851–1939) in Ljubljana in 1871 was a key turning point in the development of violinism in the Slovene lands. Gerstner was born in 1851 in Žlutice and studied violin with Moritz Mildner and Antonín Bennewitz at the Prague Conservatory between 1864 and 1870. In 1870, he became a member of the German Theater Orchestra in Prague and a member of the Bennewitz String Quartet. In 1871 he moved to Ljubljana, where he became the director of the Provincial Theater Orchestra. Between 1871 and 1919 he was active at the Philharmonic Society mostly as a violin teacher. During World War I and until 1919 he was the director of the Philharmonic Society in Ljubljana. In his long career as a violin pedagogue at the Philharmonic Society, he taught numerous brilliant violinists, who later worked in the Slovene lands and abroad. The most famous of Gerstner’s violin pupils was Leo Funtek (Leon Funtek; 1885–1965), who was later concertmaster in Helsinki and Stockholm and become a famous music figure. Gerstner was also very active as a performer in numerous chamber ensembles and as a soloist. He played an important role in the promotion of chamber music, which was still very neglected before his arrival in Ljubljana. Furthermore, Gerstner and his most prominent students premièred numerous violin compositions and brought violin performance to a completely new level.
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Although the Philharmonic Society in Ljubljana was the first organized violin teaching endeavor in the Slovene lands, it was not the only one. Various German musical societies in Celje, Maribor, and Ptuj were active in the same effort. An important music figure in Maribor was the violinist and composer Adolf Binder (1845–1901) from Prague. He moved to Maribor in 1884 and one year later become director of the Philharmonic Society. He taught violin, piano, wind instruments, and orchestral playing and brought many important changes to the school. One of the most significant was changing the violin lessons, which had previously been held in groups, into individual violin lessons. Binder was also a composer and an important chamber music promoter and performer.
The biggest wave of Prague violinists reached Slovenian territory at the turn of the twentieth century. They were active in the Ljubljana Music Society and its branches all across Slovenia. Alongside the Prague violinists, there were also other Bohemian violinists active in the region.
With the establishment of the Music Society (Glasbena Matica) in 1872, Slovenes began their efforts to develop local violinism. The Music Society, with its numerous branch organizations mostly influenced by Prague violinists, essentially characterized Slovene violinism, later training the first generation of Slovene violinists. But soon after the establishment of the music school in the 1880s, the Music Society in Ljubljana had some difficulties with its violin teachers from Bohemia, who ended up changing nearly every year. These included Georg Stiaral (Jurij Štaral; 1824–1898), Josef Wiedemann, Johann (Ivan) Drobeček (1858–1885), Anton Sochor, Anton Kučera, and Ernst Eberhart (Árnošt Eberhart; 1866–?). At the end of the war in 1918, the violinist and composer Richard Zika (1897–1947) came to Ljubljana and was appointed concertmaster of the National Theater Orchestra and violin teacher at the Music Society in Ljubljana. In 1920 he founded the (Czech) Zika Quartet, which was later renamed the Prague Quartet and went on to achieve significant acclaim. Prague violinists other than Gerstner active in Slovene territory during World War I included Josef Vedral (Josip Vedral; 1872–1929), Stanislava Hajek (Stanislava Hajková; 1895–?), Jan Otakar Pešta (1883–1945), and Lovrenc Kubišta.
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Josef Vedral
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Prague and Bohemian violinsts in the Slovene Lands until 1919
Bohemian musicians as Military music directors
In addition to developing music education, giving solo performances, and composing, the Prague violinists and other musicians originating from Bohemia were a key factor in orchestral development in Slovenia. Several orchestra directors of the military bands that were stationed in the Slovenia were violinists. At least two of the military music directors of the 17th Infantry Regiment that was stationed in Ljubljana were violinists originating from Bohemia, namely: Jaromir Borovanský (1851–?), and Johann Nemrawa (Jan Nemrava). Anton Jakl (Antonín Jakl; 1873–1948) contributed to the aforementioned Regiment as a composer, from 1906 onwards he was a violinist of the National Opera Orchestra in Ljubljana, where he died in 1948. Another one of the Bohemian military musicians and violinists active in the Slovene Lands at the time was Josef Czastka (Giuseppe Czastka; 1818–1884). At the beginning of the 1860s, he was a music teacher in Poreč, from where he moved to Koper in 1865. There he was active as a conductor, violin and music teacher at the Philharmonic Society, later he was teaching violin and singing at the Koper’s College of education and at the secondary school. As a violinist, he gave a few concerts and wrote several compositions.
In addition to developing music education, giving solo performances, and composing, the Prague violinists and other musicians originating from Bohemia were a key factor in orchestral development in Slovenia. Several orchestra directors of the military bands that were stationed in the Slovenia were violinists. At least two of the military music directors of the 17th Infantry Regiment that was stationed in Ljubljana were violinists originating from Bohemia, namely: Jaromir Borovanský (1851–?), and Johann Nemrawa (Jan Nemrava). Anton Jakl (Antonín Jakl; 1873–1948) contributed to the aforementioned Regiment as a composer, from 1906 onwards he was a violinist of the National Opera Orchestra in Ljubljana, where he died in 1948. Another one of the Bohemian military musicians and violinists active in the Slovene Lands at the time was Josef Czastka (Giuseppe Czastka; 1818–1884). At the beginning of the 1860s, he was a music teacher in Poreč, from where he moved to Koper in 1865. There he was active as a conductor, violin and music teacher at the Philharmonic Society, later he was teaching violin and singing at the Koper’s College of education and at the secondary school. As a violinist, he gave a few concerts and wrote several compositions.
Jan Šlais (1893–1975) was one of the last in a long line of Prague violinists that were active in Slovenia over the course of the twentieth century. During his twenty-five years of teaching in Ljubljana, he profoundly influenced the development of violin playing for the next hundred years, and the majority of today’s Slovenian violinists can be considered his “violin descendants.” He was also one of the most important promoters of Ševčík’s violin system in Ljubljana. Šlais influenced not only violin playing but also viola playing, not only in Ljubljana but all over Slovenia. He founded the Ljubljana String Quartet. His pupils would go on to train the next generation of successful violinists and violists, skilled musicians that would take on leading positions in Slovenian symphony orchestras, music schools, conservatories, and academies, and were active as soloists and chamber musicians. Among his pupils were: Karlo Rupel (1907–1968), Leon Pfeifer (1907–1986), Albert (Ali) Dermelj (1912–1986), Vida Jeraj Hribar (1902–2002), Uroš Prevoršek (1915–1998), Kajetan Burger, Fran Stanič (1893–1979), Jelka Stanič (1928–2011), Vinko Šušteršič in Francka Ornik Rojc.
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Jan Šlais
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Šlais’s violin lessons were carefully crafted and were based on Ševčík’s violin lesson model. They were divided into four parts and began with Ševčík’s exercises, followed by exercises for finger stretching and mobility written by Ondříček and Mittelmann. The second part was devoted to the technique of the right and left hands, mainly with works by Ševčík and Ondříček. The third part included etudes by Kayser, Mazas, Kreutzer, and Rode. Finally, the last part of the lesson was devoted to violin concertos, sonatas, and various other pieces. Even though Šlais taught very calmly, he nevertheless commanded his students’ awe and admiration. "
Description of Šlais' lessons of one of his last students Marko Sever in 2007
In addition to developing music education, giving solo performances, and composing, the Prague violinists and other musicians originating from Bohemia were also a key factor in orchestral development in Ljubljana, where they served as directors of military bands and members and conductors of symphonic orchestras. When the first Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra was established in 1908, the young Prague violinist Václav Talich (Wenzel Talich; 1883–1961) became the conductor. He studied violin with Ševčík at the Prague Conservatory between 1897 and 1903. After his studies, he spent one season as concertmaster of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. He decided to become a conductor and went to study in Leipzig with Arthur Nikisch. He was active in Ljubljana between 1908 and 1912.
Most of the orchestra members were also Czechs, including Jaroslav Markuzzi, Jan Rezek, Karel Tarter, Karel Kučera, Václav Doršner, Anton Klier, and others. This resulted in the orchestra being given the nickname “The Second Czech Philharmonic Orchestra.” In 1909, Václav Talich founded a string quartet in Ljubljana. All the other members were also alumni of the Prague Conservatory, namely Jan Rezek (1884–?), Karel Kučera (1888–?), and Edvard Bílek. When Václav Talich left Ljubljana in 1912, the orchestra was taken over by the Prague violinist and military music director Petr Teplý (1871–1964)[3] and another Czech, the opera conductor Cyril Metoděj Hrazdira. The members and concertmasters of the orchestras continued to be mainly pupils of Czech violin teachers for quite some time. However, by the time of the establishment of the Ljubljana Philharmonic Orchestra in 1934, and its re-establishment in 1947 (as the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra), the members were already Šlais’s local pupils, and also their pupils. The same was true of the chamber ensembles, whose members were Šlais’s pupils as well. |
Václav Talich
Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra under Talich and many other Czech musicians
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Slovenian Violinists: Descendants of the Prague Violinists
The Prague violinists probably had the biggest impact on the development of violin playing in Slovenia in the 1920’s when the so-called “first generation of the Slovenian violinists” appeared among their pupils. In that period, a number of Slovenian violinists went to study with other Prague violinists as well: Otakar Ševčík, Karel Hofmann, Rudolf Reissig, Váša Příhoda and mostly to Václav Huml, who was active in Zagreb. Until the end of the Second World War the Prague violinists undoubtedly and markedly influenced the development of violin playing in the Slovene Lands and consequently also many Slovenian orchestras and pedagogical institutions. Until the 1940s, Šlais was undoubtedly the most influential violin teacher in Slovenia after Gerstner. Whereas Josef Vedral trained very skilled Slovenian violin amateurs, and Karel Jeraj taught competent violin teachers and café musicians, Šlais put violin playing on a different level, training the high-level orchestral musicians and soloists that in turn markedly influenced the development of symphonic orchestras in Ljubljana, the result of which is still evident today.
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Concert Program of Ljubljanski komorni duo
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First generation of Slovene violinists – pupils of Prague violinists
Did you know?
… that Slovenian violinist Fran Gulič (1901–1973), who studied at the Prague Conservatory, was the father and for sixteen years the violin teacher of famous Italian Violinist Franco Gulli (1926–2001)?
The spread of the Prague violinists over Europe gradually slowed between the two world wars. For over one hundred years, they trained new generations of violinists throughout Europe, contributing to the spread of this strand of violin pedagogy, which was then further developed by local descendants and successors.